Changelogs (draft)

Changelogs

Every time you make changes, that is, whenever you increment the E-V-R of a package, add a changelog entry. This is important not only to have an idea about the history of a package, but also to enable users, fellow packages, and QA people to easily spot the changes that you make.

If a particular change is related to a Bugzilla bug, include the bug ID in the changelog entry for easy reference, e.g.

* Wed Jun 14 2003 Joe Packager <joe at gmail.com> - 1.0-2
- Added README file (#42).

You must use one of the following formats:

* Fri Jun 23 2006 Jesse Keating <jkeating@redhat.com> - 0.6-4
- And fix the link syntax.

* Fri Jun 23 2006 Jesse Keating <jkeating@redhat.com> 0.6-4
- And fix the link syntax.

* Fri Jun 23 2006 Jesse Keating <jkeating@redhat.com>
- 0.6-4
- And fix the link syntax.

Changelog entries should provide a summary of the changes done to the package between releases, including noting updating to a new version, adding a patch, fixing other spec sections, note bugs fixed, and CVE's if any. They must never simply contain an entire copy of the source CHANGELOG entries.

The intention is to give the user a hint as to what changed in a package update without overpowering them with the technical details that they might not want. Links to upstream changelogs can be entered for those who want additional information.